EuroSpeleo FAQs

damian

Active member
Thought I'd put into a post some of the most Frequently Asked Questions about EuroSpeleo:

When can we arrive?
We will open for parking and camping from 6pm on the evening of Friday 12 August. A basic bar will be open until about midnight.

When do we have to leave?
If you are camping in the "quiet camping" site (i.e. on the main Dalesbridge site), you will need to have left by 10am on Sunday 21 August. If you are in the "noisier camping" area (the main field), then you need to have left by the end of Sunday. Anyone who is camping on the "quiet" field for the majority of the week, but would like to sleep in late on the Sunday is asked to move their tent to the "noisier" field on the Saturday.

What food is available?
Full catering (i.e. 3 solid meals a day) will be available from Saturday morning until the following Sunday afternoon. This includes food on the Wednesday evening for those who are not attending the Banquet. This will be provided by an experienced external caterer - who understands what cavers want to eat. Delegates are clearly welcome to self-cater or go off site for food if they wish.

What shower and toilet facilities are available?
There will be plenty of both - both the normal on-site facilities plus a substantial quantity of portable units.

What time are lectures?
Daily from Sunday to Friday from 9:30am until 5:30pm.

What's the timetable for the lectures?
Unfortunately, although we'd like to, we're not able to confirm the actual timetable until pretty much the last minute. However we are able to release the overall themes for each session: Sunday - Key-note lectures, Monday & Tuesday - Exploration, Wednesday - Cave Science (2 lecture theatres), Thursday - Technical, Friday - Exploration, Saturday - UK Regional Round-Ups.

When can we go caving?
The vast majority of the caves should be rigged by Saturday 13 August and a list of these will be available from the Caving Tent. Caving will, therefore, be available from 10am on Saturday 13 August. Trips on the Gaping Gill winch will be available from Monday to Friday. All trips of any sort must be pre-booked at the Caving Tent on site. In practical terms, this means you can cave on Saturday morning if you want to after popping to the Caving Tent. The caves will then remain rigged and available for caving all day on Saturday 20 August. Derigging is likely to begin on Sunday 21 August.

When are the Opening and Closing Ceremonies?
The Opening Ceremony will be at 8pm on Saturday 12 August and the Closing Cermony will be at 8pm on Saturday 19 August.

What are the arrangements for the Banquet?
This will be at 7pm on Wednesday 17 August for pre-booked ticket holders only. The after-dinner speaker will be Tony Waltham. Tickets can be booked online until midnight on 31 July. After that it will not be possible to book for the Banquet.

What is happening in the evenings?
Each evening from 6pm-7pm the La Salle team will be showing some of their amazing 3D cave films. The evening entertainment proper then begins at 8pm every night (except the banquet, which will be 7pm) through until 2am. There is a different theme each evening.
Saturday 13th - Live Band and DJ
Sunday 14th - Ceilidh with DJ afterwards
Monday 15th - Caving Games, Quiz & disco
Tuesday 16th - CHECC night ... it'll be messy!
Wednesday 17th - Banquet followed by disco
Thursday 18th - Fancy Dress 60s, 70s & 80s disco night
Friday 19th - Prize Giving & Dance Night
Saturday 20th - Closing Ceremony, Rock Night with Rockaholic and DJ

Any more questions?
 

kay

Well-known member
What's the timetable for the lectures?
Unfortunately, although we'd like to, we're not able to confirm the actual timetable until pretty much the last minute.

Are you planning to update the website with the lectures when they become available? I'm not planning to be there all week, and it'd be nice to see what was on each day without having to drive to Dalesbridge.
 

Mark Wright

Active member
damian said:
When are the Opening and Closing Ceremonies?
The Opening Ceremony will be at 8pm on Saturday 12 August and the Closing Cermony will be at 8pm on Saturday 19 August.

Should that not be Saturday 13th August for the opening ceremony and Saturday 20th August for the closing ceremony?

Mark
 

kay

Well-known member
Do you yet know know what the keynote lectures will be on the Sunday? Even if the rest of the timetable isn't available, knowing what was on on Sunday would be useful, because I'm supposed to be running a working party, and I can't leave it till the start of Eurospeleo to find a stand-in ;)
 
What times the tent open to; just wondering if come up after work a couple of nights whether I'll be able to book in? Or if I have a ticket can I just go caving!!
 

damian

Active member
kay said:
Do you yet know know what the keynote lectures will be on the Sunday?
Although we understand it would be useful for people to know in advance which lectures are on when, experience from Hidden Earth says that it is simply not possible at this stage to give out anything like a definitive timetable. When we can, we will, I promise.
kay said:
Are you planning to update the website with the lectures when they become available? I'm not planning to be there all week, and it'd be nice to see what was on each day without having to drive to Dalesbridge.
Yes this is the aim, but we are totally reliant on volunteers to make everything happen, and this is one of those things that would be "ideal" rather than "vital".
MJenkinson said:
What times the tent open to; just wondering if come up after work a couple of nights whether I'll be able to book in? Or if I have a ticket can I just go caving!!
Reception is 24 hours from Saturday morning. The Caving Tent will be more limited and will depend on how many volunteers we can generate to cover it, but the aim is a minimum of 9am-1pm and 5pm-7pm daily.
Long Drop said:
Any provision for caving lamp / battery charging for all those campers?
Yes, but it will be at owners' risk.
 

And

New member
I hope the "plenty of toilets" means that there is a higher toilet to attendee ratio than at Hidden Earth. At HE it's a challenge to hold in the processed pints of ale while stood in a queue first thing in the morning for the 2-4 portloos. :doubt:
 

bazdog

Member
Hi, is there a separate field for camper vans or can we pitch up on the quiet area with a group of tents (no electric booked) ?
Cheers
 

damian

Active member
bazdog said:
Hi, is there a separate field for camper vans or can we pitch up on the quiet area with a group of tents (no electric booked) ?
There will be no vehicles on site (apart from pre-booked electric hook-ups) so as far as I know camper vans will need to stay in the parking fields, rather than the camping ones. Sorry, but there are too many delegates for many vehicles to be safe on site.
 

Les W

Active member
Camper vans will be allowed on site if they are staying on site.

They won't be allowed to come and go each day.
for the reasons Damian has posted above.

If that is the case then they will need to be outside the security fence...


 

Les W

Active member
Les W said:
Camper vans will be allowed on site if they are staying on site.

They won't be allowed to come and go each day.
for the reasons Damian has posted above.

If that is the case then they will need to be outside the security fence...

Just for further clarification on this point.

Camper vans will be allowed on site but we are discouraging vehicle movements on site.

For safety, vehicle movements around site need to be kept to a minimum.
All vehicle movements on, off and about the site will need marshalling, and for security (and licensing) reasons the perimeter will be secure and vehicle gates will generally be locked.

However, we don't want to stop camper vans from coming on site, just that the owners of such vehicles understand that they may need to wait until they can be let in and out of the vehicle gate. This will be dependant on volunteer staff so will create extra work for them.
 

frawleyh

New member
any ideas if Customduo people will be in the trade hall? Want to buy an insert but probably don't have time to do it now before I go!
 

damian

Active member
frawleyh said:
any ideas if Customduo people will be in the trade hall? Want to buy an insert but probably don't have time to do it now before I go!
They are indeed - the Trade Hall is open 9am-6m on Sunday-Saturday inclusive (although I can't guarantee CustomDuo will be there all the time).
 

damian

Active member
damian said:
kay said:
Do you yet know know what the keynote lectures will be on the Sunday?
Although we understand it would be useful for people to know in advance which lectures are on when, experience from Hidden Earth says that it is simply not possible at this stage to give out anything like a definitive timetable. When we can, we will, I promise.
And here it is ... http://www.eurospeleo.uk/program/
 

Andy Farrant

Active member
We hope the program won't change, but I'm sure there will be a few last minute alterations. If anyone wishes to chair any of the sessions, let myself or Rob Eavis know.
Andy
 
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